The invention relates to a SPIM-microscope comprising a light source sending an illumination light beam from a y-direction onto an object to be imaged and a camera detecting in a z-direction as a first detection direction light emanating from the object as fluorescent light and/or as reflected light, wherein the z-direction extends substantially perpendicular to the y-direction.
In particular, biological samples should be analyzed both quickly and without damaging the sample. For many applications, it is useful to generate a 3-dimensional image. Scattering artifacts and absorption artifacts should be avoided that may occur due to interaction of the illumination light with the sample, in particular in the field of fluorescence microscopy where the illumination light has the function of an excitation light for exciting fluorescence.
For analyzing microscopic samples fast, without causing damage and with a high resolution the so-called SPIM technology is specifically suitable (Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy) where the illumination light generates a light sheet, while the detection light generated by fluorescence and reflection is detected in a perpendicular direction compared to the illumination direction by a camera.
A light sheet is an illumination volume with a substantially rectangular cross-section that is very thin in a first cross-sectional direction (here the z-direction) and significantly larger in a second cross-sectional direction (here the x-direction) in comparison to the first cross-sectional direction. The illumination direction (here the y-direction) extends substantially perpendicular to the first cross-sectional direction (here the z-direction) and substantially perpendicular to the second cross-sectional direction (here the x-direction). The light sheet is focused by a cylindrical lens and the focus or a focal length of the light sheet is to be understood as a certain range that extends in the illumination direction (here the y-direction) where the light sheet is particularly thin so that the illuminated volume has the shape of a sheet, i.e. is very thin in the z-direction and much larger in the x- and in the y-direction.
Generating a light sheet according to the prior art SPIM technology using a cylindrical lens has the disadvantage that the system is quite unflexible, for instance provides a fixed focus and therefore a predetermined illuminated volume. For achieving a high resolution, a very thin and long focus is advantageous. This focus can be scanned for obtaining a 3-dimensional image in one direction over the sample. Since an increased length also increases the width the resolution in the z-direction is decreased. This means that a long focus that results from selecting a low numerical aperture of the illumination optics has the consequence that also the thickness of the illuminated volume is high. This means that the optical resolution along the optical axis in the detection direction is likewise low. Depending on the practical application the consequence is a conflict of goals: If a high depth of penetration of the illumination light should be achieved, an elongate focus is required that does, however, result in a thicker light sheet and therefore in a lower resolution. An elongate focus is generated with a small numerical aperture of the illumination optics.
Apart from being desirable to achieve at the same time a high depth of penetration for the illumination light while also accomplishing a high resolution, it is generally further desirable to have flexibility in influencing the illumination volume. For example, some applications may require a larger illumination volume, for instance for observing chemical reactions that take place within a specific volume of the object. In contrast to that, also a smaller illumination volume might be desirable, in particular a thinner illumination volume accomplished by a thinner light sheet, for example for having a more clearly defined layer or plane, for instance for determining a diffusion velocity within the object.